Steve Benen: …. As someone who was less than thrilled when Daley got the job, I’m not exactly sorry to hear the news. What’s more, I’ve liked Lew, and have no doubt he’ll be excellent in this role.

My larger concern is that Lew is a great OMB chief, and getting the Senate to confirm his replacement, whomever that may be, is going to be exceedingly unpleasant.

Regardless, I’m rather pleased with the news. The White House has been largely on the right track lately – payroll fight, mercury emissions, CFPB recess appointments, etc. – and Lew seems likely to help keep it that way.

President Barack Obama announces the change of his chief of staff at the State Dinning Room of the White House as his outgoing chief of staff William Daley and replacement Jacob Lew look on.

Sun Times: White House chief of staff Bill Daley, whose resignation was announced by President Obama on Monday, will be a co-chair of his 2012 re-election campaign, based in Chicago.

“He’s got a ton of political experience, knowledge and contacts and we look forward to leveraging those assets and working closely together to re-elect the President this year,” a member of the Obama team told the Chicago Sun-Times.

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274 Responses to “chief of staff”

Ok, I think the GOP has just exceeded the recommended daily allowance of cognitive dissonance. Or maybe I have. I’m not sure.

MANCHESTER, NH — “You have to ask the question, is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of people and then walk off with the money?”

Who said it — Elizabeth Warren? Dennis Kucinich? Noam Chomsky?

Not quite, that was Newt Gingrich talking to reporters at an energy company in Manchester on Monday about his new effort to paint Mitt Romney as a greedy one-percenter who finds “clever legal ways” to go about “looting a company” while screwing over its workers.

The responsibility lies not so much with the White House but with Congress, which has thwarted President Barack Obama’s plans to close the detention center, which the Bush administration opened on Jan. 11, 2002, with 20 captives. Congress has used its spending oversight authority both to forbid the White House from financing trials of Guantánamo captives on U.S. soil and to block the acquisition of a state prison in Illinois to hold captives currently held in Cuba who would not be put on trial — a sort of Guantánamo North.

Legislation passed since Obama took office has created a series of roadblocks that mean that only a federal court order or a national security waiver issued by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta could trump Congress and permit the release of a detainee to another country. Neither is likely: U.S. District Court judges are not ruling in favor of captives in the dozens of unlawful detention suits winding their way from Cuba to the federal court in Washington. And on the occasions when those judges have ruled for detainees, the U.S. Court of Appeals has consistently overruled them in an ever-widening definition of who can be held as an affiliate of al Qaida or the Taliban.

Thank you Tally. It was such a disingenuous question. As Jay Carney said closing Guantanamo is still an objective of President Obama. It is something he still wants to do and feels should be done for our national secrity. But congress (Democrats and Republicans) are preventing that. This is just infuriating. And still we have folks on the left pretending they don’t know that the real obstacle to closing Guantanamo is congress not President Obama. If all he needed to do was issue an executive order to close Guantanamo, it would have been done already. Everyone knows it’s more complicated than that. Let’s put the blame where it belongs – on congress.

Q One other topic. Wednesday is apparently the 10th anniversary of the prison in Guantanamo Bay, and I’m wondering what the White House says now to critics who point to this as a pretty clear broken promise. The President had wanted to close that within a year. That hasn’t happened for a lot of the history that you know of. And now it’s like there’s really no end in sight. How do you respond to the criticism that this is just a big, broken promise?

MR. CARNEY: Well, the commitment that the President has to closing Guantanamo Bay is as firm today as it was during the campaign. We all are aware of the obstacles to getting that done as quickly as the President wanted to get it done, what they were and the fact that they continued to persist. But the President’s commitment hasn’t changed at all. And it’s the right thing to do for our national security interests.

That has been an opinion shared not just by this President or members of this administration, but senior members of the military as well as this President’s predecessor and the man he ran against for this office in the general election. So we will continue to abide by that commitment and work towards its fulfillment.

Mitt Romney tends to run into trouble when he tries to relate to Americans who are struggling. There was that time over the summer, for example, that he joked about being “unemployed.”

The multi-millionaire stumbled into a similar situation in New Hampshire yesterday, reflecting on the times he feared losing his job. “I know what it’s like to worry whether you’re gonna get fired,” Romney said. “There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.”

By all appearances, this is plainly false. Looking back over his career choices, there was simply never a moment at which Romney was likely to get fired from anything. Arguably the only people who wanted to give him a pink slip were his constituents in Massachusetts, who grew to dislike him quite a bit. But Romney didn’t give them a chance — rather than lose a re-election bid, the governor quit after one term.

Lord have mercy this girl needs to pick up a book and learn some vocabulary words. The word is modicum, not emoticon. Anyone remember when she said Michelle Bachmann was “more smarter” than Sarah Palin?

I detest Meghan McCain’s contribution in any political discussion because her father’s failed run for the Presidency does not in any way qualify her to talk about economic issues, healthcare issues and so on. Plus her aggressive attacks against the other guests is very off putting and she makes up words in that nails on the chalkboard valley girl accent that grate on my nerves; but I will give her credit for sticking up in a very forceful manner for the Obamas and especially for Mrs. Obama and slamming Kantor’s book as nothing more than gossipy trash.

Members of 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks listen to U.S. President Obama speak in the East Room at the White House in Washington, January 9, 2012. From L-R are: Jason Terry, Ian Mahinmi, Obama, team owner Mark Cuban, and Brian Cardinal.

No shame! :smile:. I just caught that and figurred you were twisting in between thinking- “he should have…and ” I would have thought he’d have gotten it over with and gone on to fox.”

My remembers when she could actually watch fox. I wonder if they were more sudle back in the day, or if we just “know” more now and actually catch their lies as well as the right “leanings” to the stories. Cannot actually call them a news station.

I should have noted when we ran the clip that it’s unfair to infer from this quote that Romney was talking about his time at Bain. He wasn’t. He was talking about something else entirely, extolling the benefits of choice in a marketplace. To say or imply otherwise is, well, something Romney would do if Obama said it, but we shouldn’t. This was a gaffe simply of presentation. It was how he put it, not what he said. But just as it’s true in some sense that “corporations are people,” it’s still a dumb statement for Mitt Bain Romney to be saying in this climate.

It’s also extremely dumb for Romney to say things like this:

“I know what’s it’s like to worry whether you’re going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.”

And like so many of his other big lies, Romney cannot substantiate it. Each time Romney tries to connect with regular voters (“I’m unemployed too”), you want to curl up onto a little ball of excruciation. Perry picked up on the latest maladroit quote immediately:

An attempt at a joke I think. I don’t know where Halperin is from, but when I was younger watching the Tigers at the old stadium and Lou Whittaker came up to bad I turned to my father and asked why they were booing somebody from the home team. To which he replied “They’re saying Louuuuuuuuu! not booooooooo!” I assume every kid who had a sports team with a Lou has asked their father a similar question.

January 09, 2012
It’s a good idea(!)
Mitt Romney, at his little chat this morning with the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, was a veritable geyser of Babbittry. Not only did he reveal himself rather redundantly as a compassionless capitalist — a moment of infamy instantly memorialized in infinite network loops — he also ventured into the dubious populism of a bourgeois verity:

I would love to see term limits for congressmen and senators. We have one for the president. It’s a good idea.

Is this a good idea because the president has a term limit? Or does the president have a term limit because it’s a good idea? My guess as to Romney’s guess: He hasn’t a clue. One can easily imagine the depth of thought that went into this. Staff: “Hey, Governor, others around you have been proposing these limity things, and they seem to be getting a pretty good reception, so how about you proposing the same?” Governor: “Done.”

Totally agree – look at how the idiot tea party people, who don’t have a clue how government works – have ruined things. When people’s very lives are at stake, better to have someone who knows what they’re doing.

Tally, I agree with you 100%! I really miss Teddy Kennedy and Robert Byrd. These old timers really understood the role of the Senate and the importance of the Constitution. Although they represented the two wings of the Democratic party — liberal and conservative–I was amazed at how they joined together in demanding that the Senate should seriously debate going to war in Iraq. I am also glad that California re-elected Jerry Brown instead of trying to experiment with the Romney-like Meg Whitman.

it’s Robert Traynham, a black, gay former aide to Sen. Santorum. Uh-huh.

Traynham is well-known in LGBT insider politics, and received an on-air tryout just last week on Chris Matthews’ Hardball, when the black, gay, former Rick Santorum Director of Communications and senior staffer appeared in a segment to support his former boss.

Traynham was outed years ago while working for the then-Pennsylvania Senator, by journalist Mike Rogers. Santorum painted Traynham as a victim.

Sounds balanced to me. That’s so long as “balanced” means “batshit insane.”

Yes…..It is horrible….I live in Gwinnett County. There was another incident too. A boy turned in a 1.5 in knife he accidentally brought to school ( not the same school ) and he received a 4 day suspension for turning it in .

Gonna have to firmly disagree with you SR. There is no “I get what they were trying to do.” This was utterly reprehensible and disgusting at all levels. This is a mathematics class and slavery has no place in a math class. Also, if one was giving the students questions relating to slavery why the heck would you put that on a math homework? Why the heck wouldn’t one take the time to talk about slavery in its full context and how abhorrent it was instead of just flippantly asking degrading questions about human beings who were treated in the most vile manner possible? One can apply this scenario to reprehensible questions about Jews and the Holocaust, Japanese and internment camps, Farm workers and Cesar Chavez and on and on and on. The math questions suggest that slavery and beatings were just wonderful and the slaves were out on the farm having a jolly good time picking oranges and cotton. If a teacher wants to talk about slavery and that time in history, that discussion should be conducted in a comprehensive and factual manner in a social studies class not on a math homework and if they wanted to incorporate what they learned in social studies class, there are less digusting ways of doing so than the vile manner in which the questions were asked.

Yeah, why use words like slavery for a math problem?????? That Is absolutely ludicrous, makes no sense, there’s a point the Teacher Is trying to make, and It’s not a positive one, It’s offensive, rude and totally out of order. :-( Just Imagine If you, or we, were asked to work that kind of problem. This Is Insane

SR – We’ll agree to disagree, too. No one in their right mind in 2012 would use those exact phrases to weave social studies into math. How many beatings the slaves got? The insensitivity of it is huge.

I totally agree with utaustinliberal…in my mind, there are no words to describe that period in our history, as a descendent of slaves (my parent grew up in the south during jim crow) just talking about slavery is painful…to see it treated in this manner is even more hurtful and disrespectful. There is no reason to use slavery to teach MATH…whatever happened to using apples and oranges…MY GOD!

Just wow, saintroscoe. How little you must think of the feelings of children in my family, for instance. How can anyone be so cavalier as to think the context was totally degrading, incompassionate, and down-right mean? Yes, mean. There’s no way one could ever think of burdening little ones with such trifling exercises disguised as legitimate education, without having a stone where their heart should be. Maybe you should check out this:

As to other’s comments, yes it was “intentionally sinister” and horribly misguided, and no, the teacher should be fired. I can’t believe some are being lulled by the climate of today, which is a throw back from yesteryear. Just wow :-(

Saintroscoe, those questions normalize physical abuse and forced labor like it was going to the store and buying groceries. These questions “teach” nothing about slavery, except to demean the students, to make them feel less than. What goes on in white controlled southern public school systems is an active campaign to “break in” very young Black children. That means to habituate Black children to failure and to inculcate inferiority. For example, my niece’s 4-year-old was in preschool in North Carolina. A child in her classroom of mostly Black with some Hispanic kids misbehaved — talking, running who knows what. The white teacher punishes all the children by demanding they sit in a circle without moving or talking for 30 minutes. This is a developmentally impossible task for any 4-year-old. So, when a child moved, the teacher began revoking recess time until the class had no recess time for the week. And guess what, the classroom behavior did not improve it got worse. Now, my niece’s situation got resolved in two steps. First, following my instructions she demanded a conference with the principle and the teacher, where she intellectually beat them with her psychology degree from Smith and demanded discipline appropriate to the students’ age. Then she took her children out of public school. The northern version of this is the teacher who used crack sales as the algebra examples at a predominantly Black middle school.

I totally agree with you UT. There is no justification for these questions. The questions may not be “suggesting that salvery and beatings were wonderful” but they are definitely trivializing the issues. Asking a child how many beating a slave received a day makes absolutely no sense and I don’t see where a lesson is learned. Even if I look at it from the teacher’s perspective and tried to mesh the two subjects, I still would not have framed the questions that way. The teacher may not get fired, but she/he would not be teaching my child. That class should be empty.

I totally agree with you, UT! The brutality against slaves, or for that matter any brutality against other human beings, MUST NEVER be a subject of simple and abstract mathematical calculations. I am sure no one, with any ounce of humanity, would stomach the mathematical question that asks students: if Jews were sent into the ovens at the rate of ten a week how many jews would have been killed in a month. Framing human atrocities in mathematical formulas de-sensitizes children about the inhuman sufferings of real people.

By the way, UT, people need to check out the books that were in circulation throughout the first half of the 20th Century, up until the early 1960’s, with such titles as “Ten Little Indians” or “Ten Little Niggers” that were used to teach young children, of all races, about subtraction. These supposedly math books were loaded with propaganda that rendered it acceptable to dehumanize, and indeed contemplate killing or getting rid of Indians and Black people through the guise of teaching Arithmetic to very young people. Some of us who are old enough remember the devastating impact of those books.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all. That’s almost unbelievable in this day and age, just goes to show what a healed wound the whole civil rights movement is (on the surface). Kudos to Mr. Braxton, but how long has this been going on without someone being alerted? It truly makes me feel physically ill.

In previous posts here, I’ve talked a lot about pragmatism when it comes to politics, as well as understanding the “rules of the game.” If you don’t have either, and lack the willingness to actually do the work involved in getting your agenda into law, you’re not going to get very far. Even if you do understand the rules, and are willing to do the work, it still doesn’t mean you’re going to get your way, or at least, everything you wanted. You see, it turns out that real politics are never quite as simple as they may seem when talking about abstract philosophical concepts.

Which is why politics are often a messy business. The “rules” – the Constitution, laws, and institutional procedures – place specific responsibilities and limits. In order to accomplish anything, you need to know what they are, and how they work. It’s one thing to want Guantanamo closed, it’s another to blame the President for not doing it, when the reason is Congress. In other words, screaming at the President for “not doing” something he was blocked from doing just shows that you’re not paying attention.

Thank you, Creolechild for this link. IMHO, Norbrook is one of the most astute, no nonsense, political analyst/ commentator/blogger! Norbrook not only understands how the political system operates, but he/she has been actively involved in grassroots organizing, which requires that you must be practical when faced with people that may not share your entire ideological position, but have a great deal of common with you on many of the other issues. For me, Norbrook has been such an incredible source for my political understanding about what it takes to win elections. I also admire his/her fearlessness in challenging the naivety of the PL and their holier than thou approach to politics.

Mitt Romney Could Be Lockblocked
Written by: AdLib On January – 5 – 2012

Like George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush and John McCain before him, going into this primary, it is Mitt Romney’s turn. He was and is the only GOP establishment guy who paid his dues the last time around and happily toes whatever line is required to reflect their agenda. Mitt Romney has a huge pile of campaign money, a sneaky Super PAC that is flush with Wall Street and GOP Elite money, organization in most states that matter and as in the Creationist Museum, Romney is also riding on the backs of GOP dinosaurs like the elder Bush and John McCain.

As mentioned above, it is betting against the odds to say that Romney won’t be the nominee but it may not be such long odds to propose that he may not be able to lock this up for some time. Let’s begin by considering his performance in the Iowa Caucus and his poll numbers throughout the run up to the primary. In a crowd of midgets, he may be the tallest by a hair but he is still a midget.

White House chief of staff Bill Daley, whose resignation was announced by President Obama on Monday, will be a co-chair of his 2012 re-election campaign, based in Chicago.
“He’s got a ton of political experience, knowledge and contacts and we look forward to leveraging those assets and working closely together to re-elect the President this year,” a member of the Obama team told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Uh hellooooooooooooooooooo SR do you not know anything about the Daley family? They are the Chicago Democratic party personified. Daley would never agree to work for President Obama’s rivals and would never spill insider secrets/insights about the Obama campaign. Why the heck would he cut himself off at the knees and do that to a fellow Chicagoan? There’s something called party loyalty.

You must not be from Chicago. Daley would never give out secrets to a rival campaign. The Daley family is the Democratic party, and there is loyalty there, especially for fellow Chicagoans. unlike someone like Ed Rendell who would sell out other Dems in a minute. Remember the only reason Daley took the COS job was to allow Rahm to run for mayor. He also has been in DC at a difficult time for the family, his sister-in-law was dying of cancer. He worked for the campaign in “08, it’s the type of job he is better suited for.

Imo, these are the kind of articles that we should be spreading far and wide up until and during the upcoming election season. We still have time to educate the public about what President Obama and his administration have accomplished by using all the social platforms that are available, being coordinated, and relentless BEFORE the GOP has a chance to set the narrative!~

WASHINGTON – Recently, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took a look back and recounted some of the department’s biggest accomplishments in 2011. From discounting brand name prescriptions for seniors to helping prevent the nearly 2 million heart attacks and strokes every year, the HHS’ efforts resulted not only in a healthier America but significant cost savings across the industry.

The Obama administration will ban new uranium mining on 1 million acres of federal land near the Grand Canyon, the Interior Department announced Monday.

“We have been entrusted to care for and protect our precious environmental and cultural resources, and we have chosen a responsible path that makes sense for this and future generations,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release.

The ban prevents new uranium mining claims in the region, but does not halt projects that have already been approved or have existing mining rights. Interior said the ban will allow scientists to monitor the effect of uranium mining on water quality.

Where is the political benefit to the GOP in Arizona wanting this? Rep Flake, GOP Senate candidate to replace Kyl, among others, was out trying to congressionally block this move by interior department.

On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Republican voters continue to express mixed views of the party’s presidential field. Roughly half (51%) of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say the candidates are excellent or good, while 44% say they are only fair or poor. The percentage expressing positive views of the GOP presidential field is largely unchanged from 48% in November and 49% in August. Republicans and GOP leaners expressed much more positive views of the presidential field at a comparable point four years ago: In January 2008, 68% of Republicans and Republican leaners said they had good candidates to choose from, as did 78% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Commerce Secretary John Bryson, whose appointment was sharply criticized by Republicans because of the National Labor Relations Board’s complaint against airplane manufacturer Boeing, will attend the North American Auto Show in Detroit, officials in his office said Monday.

Bryson was tapped by President Obama last year to replace outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, whom Obama nominated to be ambassador to China after Jon Huntsman resigned from the post to run for the GOP nomination for the presidency in 2012.

Republicans criticized Obama for appointing for Bryson, who was a member of the board of directors at Boeing, at the same time the NLRB was allegedly retaliating against strikes by unions in its home of Washington state by planning to open a plant in South Carolina.

So glad the President appointed his new COS immediately on announcing the resignation of Bill Daley. Otherwise, there would have been endless suggestions to him about whom to appoint…I’m sure Chuckie would have had an idea. so would Morning Joke, Tweety, and no doubt Howard Fineman’s “sources” would have told him who has the inside track. Now, at least we’re spared that particular media circus!

I’m leaving the Republican Party. No longer can I say with a clear conscience that the Republican Party is focused on solving problems will benefit average Americans.

Solving problems is about pragmatically viewing data to decide upon the most effective public policy solutions. Many times, problem solving is the complete opposite of adhering to a rigid political ideology that dictates policy regardless of consequences. Our public servants need to be looking at what has worked, what has not worked, and using those judgments to form policy moving forward. The Republican Party refuses to look at what works and what doesn’t — they simply base policy on whether it fits into a rigid anti-government philosophy, whether it is good policy or not. Essentially, the effectiveness of policy is completely and totally irrelevant to Republicans. Additionally, the Republican Party believes more strongly in obstructing anything that President Obama proposes than in real solutions that would create jobs and help the average American.

Additionally, I have specific grievances with the current “know-nothing” incarnation of the Republican Party: ( list at link )

Steve Benen: …. As someone who was less than thrilled when Daley got the job, I’m not exactly sorry to hear the news. What’s more, I’ve liked Lew, and have no doubt he’ll be excellent in this role.

My larger concern is that Lew is a great OMB chief, and getting the Senate to confirm his replacement, whomever that may be, is going to be exceedingly unpleasant.

Regardless, I’m rather pleased with the news. The White House has been largely on the right track lately – payroll fight, mercury emissions, CFPB recess appointments, etc. – and Lew seems likely to help keep it that way.

I can type it and send it to you…is that OK? Just stick your answer in the comments so I don’t have to come back and find this….to hear your response. Have to go pick up my daughter from work in a few, so it will be after that :)

The “media” is working on my last nerve today! Need a good laugh? Hmmm….how about this:

Mitt’s Nightmare Scenario
By Lois Romano

By Saturday, Huntsman became the man to watch. He spent months in the state—he skipped the Iowa caucuses—attracting small crowds and minimal press.

Now he is now attracting mammoth crowds as he surges in the polls and because of strong debate performances over the weekend. On Sunday, 200 people crammed into a small coffee shop, elbowing to hear him.

[PAUSE–as you process what’s just been described–…BREATHE DEEPLY AND SLOWLY…NOW LAUGH HYSTERICALLY! GTFOH–since when does 200 people crammed into a small coffee shop qualify as a “mammoth crowd?”]

Later that night, Huntsman had to push his way into a house party in Bedford—where 40 guests had been expected but 250 showed up. Outside, at least 50 media chronicled his every word.

[OKAY, MY CHEST HURTS FROM LAUGHING SO HARD AFTER READING THIS. SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT, 250 PEOPLE TURN UP + 50 MEDIA TYPES…OMG! WHERE’S CROWD CONTROL WHEN YOU REALLY NEED IT? SECURITTTTTYYY…..]

Chips, what’s telling is that they only “expected” 40 people to show up at their house party. Apparently, the fact that more people came to the event sent them over the edge! Yet, they had the nerve to claim that Huntsman is “the man to watch,” which in all honesty is the equivalent of watching grass grow. ~

Joey B. will in Phiadelphia this Friday, Jan 13 for a lunch with the African American Leadership Council. If you have a spare $2,500, you can have lunch there. $10,000 will get you lunch for 2 and a photo with Mr. Biden.

If I had it, I would give it in a heartbeat!!! I love Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.!!!

Sun Times: White House chief of staff Bill Daley, whose resignation was announced by President Obama on Monday, will be a co-chair of his 2012 re-election campaign, based in Chicago.

“He’s got a ton of political experience, knowledge and contacts and we look forward to leveraging those assets and working closely together to re-elect the President this year,” a member of the Obama team told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Memo to Republican candidates: You cannot complain about proposed cuts in the Defense budget, as many of you did at last night’s debate, and at the same time complain that the president or the Democrats in Congress are not doing enough to cut government spending. You have to be for cutting spending or against it. If you’re for more spending cuts, then the biggest item of spending that is available for cutting happens to be the defense budget. By far. If you add up all the other items of discretionary spending in the federal budget, you are not going to find anywhere near the opportunities for cutting that you can find in the defense budget. Also please keep in mind that President Bush nearly doubled military spending, which means that there should be plenty of room to make cuts without doing harm to our preparedness. With the Iraq War ending and the Afghanistan War winding down, we ought to be able to reduce our military expenditures by quite a bit just by putting ourselves in a more “normal” state of readiness.

Info: Our guest is Ward Carroll, editor of military.com. Military.com is a website which provides news, information and support to current and former service members and their families as well as non-military readers.

The website has over ten million members. Carroll discusses a wide array of defense issues, including the way procurement works in the Department of Defense. He relates the difficulty in cancelling major weapons systems funding. He cites an example of the F-22 fighter jet now projected to cost $250 million dollars per airplane. He says it is hard for lawmakers to cancel the program because the F-22 is assembled in 47 states and a number of foreign countries.

Ward Carroll also talks about the total costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the last ten years as contrasted with the initial amount Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the wars would cost. Overall troop strength is reviewed and projections for cutting troop levels are discussed.

Carroll details some salary and benefit levels for U.S. Navy commissioned officers and enlisted men, as shown on his website, military.com. In addition, he looks at the top defense contractors paid by the U.S. government in 2011. He tells stories about his time flying as the radar interceptor in the back seat of the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. He discusses his career in the United States Navy, and his decision to go into journalism after teaching at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Here’s a re-post from a previous thread, which include graphs, that support Linda’s post and reinforces what Ward Carroll wrote about in reference to salary and benefit levels for commissioned officers and enlisted men.

The increasing proportion of officers relative to enlisted personnel, as well as the tendency for higher ranking officers to do work that could be done by lower ranking officers, is known as brass creep or as officer or rank inflation. The pace of brass creep has accelerated in the 20 years since the Cold War ended, culminating in today’s unprecedented top-heavy force structure.

This progression towards a more top-heavy force is a burden for taxpayers and military commanders. The cost of officers increases markedly with their rank, so taxpayers are overpaying whenever a general or flag officer is in a position that could be filled by a lower ranking officer. Additionally, some military personnel experts say unnecessarily top-heavy organizations hinder military effectiveness as they slow decision cycles.

I’m sorry for this lengthy comment, but I just had to share this with you guys. If you watched the press briefing today you have heard this already. I just marveled at this exchange between Jay Carney and a reporter (and I use that word advisedly) named Jeff about President Obama’s handling his day job vs campaigning. The stupidity of the questions asked is just breathtaking. Jay Carney’s responses were pitch perfect. He is a treasure.

HIS JOB IS TO BE PRESIDENT

=========================

Q As the Republican field starts to narrow a little bit and as the frontrunner is gaining traction, how does — what has the President said and what is the White House thinking about your own strategy in the next few months?

MR. CARNEY: Well, Jeff, as you know there is a reelection campaign located in Chicago. And this President is doing the things that he needs to do to prepare for his campaign, but his — the level of his engagement is relatively low now because he has work to do as President.

He is very focused on his number-one priority, which is doing everything he can as President, working with Congress or using his executive authority or working with the private sector, to grow the economy and create jobs. We’ve had some signs of improvement in the economy, some indications that the recovery is strengthening, but we are a long way from where we need to be as a country. And that’s why this President is focused on the initiatives that he’s put forward in the American Jobs Act, including the extension — the full extension of the payroll tax cut, the full extension of unemployment insurance, working with Congress to fund infrastructure projects that will put construction workers back to work but also build the foundation for the economy that we need to be competitive in the 21st century, and doing the kinds of things that he’ll do on Wednesday with this in-sourcing forum to work with the private sector to focus people’s attention on the fact that America is a great place to invest; it’s the right place for American companies to in-source, if you will, to bring their investments and jobs back to the United States.

So he’ll use every tool in the toolbox to do that. The campaign, when it comes, in terms of his enhanced engagement, will consume more time at the appropriate time. But it’s not — that’s not now for him.

Q But even if the two operations are separate, as they clearly are, aren’t things like the nomination of Richard Cordray last week and even the in-sourcing event right now milestones for — that will be used for the campaigning season as well for this President?

MR. CARNEY: That’s like saying that anything you do as President is inherently political. And the fact is he is running for reelection to a political office, the presidency of the United States, and he will obviously have a lot to say about what has been accomplished during his time in office, and, even more so, what needs to be done in the ensuing four years and why he believes that he has the right vision for the country going forward.

And having said that, his job is to be President. His job is to do everything he can to help the American people as we emerge from the worst recession since the Great Depression; to work with the private sector, work with Congress, use his executive authority, to grow the economy and create jobs; to make sure that he’s doing everything he can as Commander-in-Chief to ensure the safety of the American people both here and abroad; to take the kinds of actions that allowed him to fulfill his promise to end the war in Iraq, as he did late last year; and to continue to draw down forces in Afghanistan, even as we step up our fight against al Qaeda.

All these things are part of his day job, and they’re quite consuming. And because he does not need to now, he is not engaging particularly aggressively in his reelection campaign. It’s only January. There is not a Republican nominee.

Q Isn’t the recess appointment engaging on some level?

MR. CARNEY: I can’t remember — I guess maybe you weren’t here last week — but the President recess-appointed Richard Cordray because Republicans refused — despite overwhelming bipartisan support, overwhelming testaments to the fact that he is enormously qualified and the overwhelming need to have a consumer watchdog in place, the Republicans in the Senate refused to confirm him, refused to give him an up or down vote.

Every day that there isn’t — or wasn’t a consumer watchdog in that office was a day when Americans weren’t protected from abuses by payday lenders, non-bank financial institutions, mortgage brokers, student loan providers. So he insisted that he was not going to wait any longer to allow those Americans to be unprotected.

Republicans who opposed that nomination almost to a person have said it’s not because they have any problem with Richard Cordray, it’s because they have a problem with the bureau itself. And our position is if they want to change the law, they should do that through the legislative process. It is the law. It was passed by Congress.

Wall Street reform is absolutely essential given the kind of crisis we went through that contributed to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And Richard Cordray needs to be on the job. That’s why the President made that appointment.

I posted a PEW poll showing that Repubs this cycle are less enthused about their candidates than they were 4 years ago. But when you hear the words huge or large crowds–please understand that getting 45 people in a one stall bathroom would also be known as an “overflowing” crowd. No one is doing stadiums or 1000+ venues.

Sorry. No love lost for Bill Daley. He was terrible and only harmed PBO with his fumbling of the dates for PBO’s AJA speech, debt ceiling, govt. shutodwn threats, and most specifically, a shift to deficits when we needed to focus on job creation at the beginning of last year. He hasn’t even warmed up relations with the business community like he was supposed to. He’s not even man enough to hang tough wiht PBO who is battling idiots in Washington and int he press every day and stick around for a couple months and leave after the election like he said he would.

Co-chair of the re-election team is fine. Maybe he’s better at that. Jack Lew is a MUCH BETTER choice to begin with. Nobody liked Daley in the WH or in Congress. Daley is the guy who said PBO was being too partisan and tough on Wall St. before he came in and did a crappy job because he obviously did not realize that it was not PBO who was beign partisan and unreasonable, but the GOP thugs in Congress and did not know how to outmaneuver them on message.

Personally, I don’t care who dislikes Daley, we don’t need the hateful disrespectful comments here. It’s bad enough the media is already attacking the Obamas with that book from Kantor, and your negative disrespectful comment towards Daley leaving is adding fuel to the flames.

I disagree. COS is perhaps the most important job a President can appoint and Daley was not up to the task, as evidenced by his mishandling and misreading of the insane Teabaggers last year. He did not even help D’s in Congress. That’s what COS are supposed to do among other things. It’s what Rahm did. Thank God, David Plouffe, Pete Rouse, and Jack Lew are at the helm helping PBO now smash the GOP and their canards.

A lot of the D’s didn’t help themselves by stabbing PBO in the back. If they were sniveling about Daley, obviously he did something right. But my point still stands, we don’t need the disrespectful comments towards Daley here, especially given the media attempting to portray the Obama administration as out of touch with the Kantor crap.

Why can’t we say it here? This is one of the only places for TRUTH about PBO’s record and his admnistration. If anywhere, this is the place to say it.

Leaving like this when he said he was going ot leave after the election just makes voters questions what is going on in the WH and compounds the fact that people didn’t like him and he coudln’t do anything constructive. Thankfully, Pete Rouse was there to save the day.

Frankly, nobody really cares about the Kantor crap. As Chuck Todd said on Hardball, this is STANDARD gossip about First Ladies just like Hillary and Nancy Reagan.

Because it’s not truth, only PBO knows whether or not Daley had anything to offer the administration, and attacking Daley for leaving makes all the momentum we’ve gained wasted. It’s a waste of time and energy as L3 pointed out.

Arguing about someone who is now gone is a waste of time and energy. Only PBO knows if he was served well by Daley or not and the fact that he’s going to work for the campaign suggests that PBO must have felt Daley had and has something to offer.

Seriously, this is reminding me so much of the emoprogs cheering when Rahm left to become Mayor of Chicago. The last thing we need is to lose all the momentum we’ve gained by pulling the knives out and pointing them at the administration.

Everyone knows that co-chair of a campaign is more a ceremonial position for tapping fundraising than anything else. In this case, it was a face-saving way to leave the admnistration. He can do that better since he knows lots of wealthy people. The real people are Plouffe, Axelrod and, Messina.

Halo, in my opinion “the real people” are those who support President Obama and his administration by through their collective or individual efforts, whether they’re large or small. Everyone is included and everyone is valuable! Those are the basic tenets upon which the Democratic Party is based and something that I believe we can ALL agree on!

Our side could’ve fought back against it. Look how quicky we turned the conversation since the Jt Session speech launching AJA. It’s all water under the bridge now, so let’s keep the focus on jobs, economic growth, and economic fairness.

Thank you. I wish people would focus their criticisms where they belong, on the Republicans. If they wanted to hold the govt. hostage over deficit reduction, it was within their power to do so. There is nothing Daley or PBO could do to stop it.

Exactly. Budgets have to get done and anything pertaining to revenues have to begin in the House. At some point, the majority House will have the country’s attention as well as the GOP owned media. I still say, the Democratic party can whine all they want, but they need to get on TV and have this President’s back more. I think the President knew that most of his Jobs Act (actually ready in May of last year to be rolled out), would not pass with the Tea Party Congress—-it would never pass even with most of the country supporting it. He fought in the fall of last year like everyone wanted him to earlier in the year with the same result that he knew he would originally get, only some help for veterans. The President can now safely say he addressed deficits and issued the Grand Bargain to Boehner (to the independents), as well as the AJA for those needing jobs. I always knew exactly why he was doing certain things last year—the AJA roll out was delayed in May because of the debt ceiling hostage taking—which the President had no control over them willing to send this country over the cliff. He has to deal with realities even if we want otherwise.

Totally agree. Focusing on deficits the first half of this year was a strategic blunder, IMO, and something I had been lamenting all year. We should’ve never played footsie with the Repubs on deficit cutting to the point they almost shut down the govt and defaulted on the debt. not sad he’s gone either.

If you look back at the chain of events, focusing on the deficits was anything but a strategic blunder! It allowed the President to unmask the GOP to show Americans that they weren’t serious about tackling difficult issues but were more invested in playing games at the expense of the American people and this country’s financial stability.

Ask yourself who most people in this country blame for this country’s current economic status and the slow recovery? It’s not President Obama…In addition, the time-worn meme of Republicans being “fiscally responsible” has been effectively neutralized as it becomes clearer each day that the GOP is on the side of the wealthy upon whom they are loathe to raise taxes and multinational corporations that pay little or no taxes despite raking in substantial profits and outsourcing jobs overseas.

The cherry on top was the President touring the country promoting the American Jobs Act. In my opinion, the positive reception for the AJA was laid, and further cemented, by the actions of the GOP during the deficit talks. Only then did the public begin to fully realize that going forward the deficit MUSTbe tackled–but in a responsible manner–and that putting Americans back to work is a top priority! CHECK AND MATE!~

That’s it—it’s called strategy and positioning. We may not like it and get impatient and want to instantly fight every issue without trying to address it, but it never goes away until you address it. PBO addressed it and was able to pivot so well that it’s not going up much at all. Also, the President knew that the only significant legislation that he would get passed would be trade deals (hence the Daley hire) after the 2010 bloodbath. You can yell and fight and scream, but hardly no legislation was going to pass…period…for 2 years. He had to address deficits at some point. It wasn’t going away. He exposed them as frauds and moved on to another topic.

Regarding the debt ceiling debacle and subsequent sundry issues, guess who I voted for, based on intelligence and contemplative disposition? Senator Obama- not Bill Daley, not Rahm Emanuel, not Hillary Clinton, et al. So, I leave his staffing decisions up to him, as I would any other Chief. After all, he has to work with them, and must judge according to his own official needs. Thank you Janelle, and creole child for voices of clarity.

Who can forget the images of covered bridges in Vermont washed away by the waters of Tropical Storm Irene? Or the flooding that occurred nationwide last spring? When storms get violent, they don’t only destroy personal property and cause injury; they also ruin the roads, bridges, and highways that connect our communities and keep our economy moving. As a result, first responders must find alternate routes. Cars are abandoned on highways. Material assistance–like generators, blankets, and food–can’t be delivered.
And when the storms clear, there is much work to be done.
That’s why we’re releasing $1.6 billion in Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief funds today: to restore what natural disasters have damaged and strengthen our roadways so they will hold up if severe conditions strike again. Emergency Relief funds help fix what is broken and help those reeling from crisis take steps toward transportation repairs and economic recovery.

When Romney was asked if he was out of touch with the concerns of regular voters,
he responded sharply.

“If you think that I should spend my entire campaign carefully choosing how everything
I say relates to people, as opposed to saying my own experience and telling my own
experience­, that would make me a very different person than I am,” he said. “I’m going to
tell people my own experience­s in life, and I realize they’re not the same as everybody else.”

True… “out of touch with regular voters.” Geez, d’ya think?
Romney’s experience­s are not the same as, say, 99% of “everybody else’s.”
Go home, Mitt, Enjoy a drink by your beach. And before you run again,
tell the cleaners to skip all that starch in your shirts… it’ll help to “relate.”

The first hybrid electric street sweepers in the nation are hitting the streets of Manhattan thanks to $690,000 of Recovery funding. Initiating a pilot program, a total of five of the new vehicles were delivered to the New York City Department of Sanitation this past fall.

(Washington, DC – 1/9/12) – This morning, a Tampa, Fla., man was arrested on charges that he was planning an attack using guns and bombs on multiple locations. As in numerous previous cases, the suspect, Sami Osmakac, was apprehended following a tip from local Muslims. The Muslim Public Affairs Council commends the vigilance of citizens and public officials in their successful efforts to prevent an attempted act of violent extremism.

Today, law enforcement officials noted the important positive role Muslim American communities played to prevent the plot.

“This investigation was also predicated, in part, by assistance from the Muslim community. I would like to thank them as well,” said Robert E. O’Neill, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, in a press conference this afternoon

One thing I’ve noticed, the Chief of Staff job puts you in a position where no one really likes you. I don’t really value the opinions of Congress and their staffers at this point, and that includes Reid. I’ve seen more Dems stab the President in the back with their votes (that includes Guantanamo) and not supporting him on a regular basis—Daley’s comment about how even Dems are making it tough for the President I truly believe. No one liked Rahm either….you can’t find a COS that is going to be all things to all people and give few leaks and maintain trust and loyalty. It’s got to be one of the toughest jobs outside of President and VP. This person is the gatekeeper and organizer of the economy and foreign related stuff. Every single person in this position will show a weakness somewhere either on domestic or foreign issues, it’s inevitable.

Basically, the congressional docratsxare scared shitless that the President will close Gitmo by fiatl.
So, they cover their asses, by putting in legislation, blocking his attempts.
On this issue, congressional Democrats are far right!

P.S. I don’t think Daley was terrible, neither was Rahm for one reason…..most of what happened last year and keeps happening is because of the presidency of the first black president—the number of problems and crisis to fix–the obstruction and hatred has been unprecedented. History books will bear this out. The hatred from his own party, including black Dem politicians is unprecedented. It’s got to be frustrating to the West Wing staff—-it is to me. I appreciated the trade deals Daley got done, the American Jobs Act roll out, and the no leaks of the Bin Laden raid in particular.

Agreed, Janelle. The dems in congress have stabbed PBO in the back many times, Reid included. He is more interested in keeping McConnell happy. Then we have the dems who show up on TV any chance they get to bash the President. This is why I believe Daley’s comment is true.

You’re spot on. PBO has to watch his back from all sides, all the time. After he gets relected (and he will), there is going to be a major shift in people’s support for those currently in the Dem party—-the theatrics are going to start up all over again and they’ll probably lose power again in 2014 IF they don’t learn to be strategic, support the President’s initiatives, and stop whining that that they can’t have dinner in the WH residence and have lunch with the First Lady.

If all of the GOP presidential clown car debates had been like the one last Sunday, there probably would have been two people on stage instead of six. I love the fact that Tweety keeps patting David Gregory on the back for doing such a great job (I hardly recognized him). My question to the media is why did we have to go through 40 debates before any real questions were asked and challenged. Howard Fineman just said boy if that Sunday debate had been held last Thursday the dynamics might be very different one day before the New Hampshire primary. Really ? How observant of you Howard. Did some of your sources give you that pearl of wisdom or did you think of it all by yourself.

I don’t find much to like about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). Political reporters tend to adore the guy — I guess for some, the “loveable loudmouth” is an archetype with appeal — but I find his policy agenda misguided, his incessant whining about President Obama misguided, and his approach to governing deeply irresponsible.

But on a more personal level, I just wish the guy had a little more class. Torie Bosch had this piece today on Christie’s ugliness yesterday.

On Sunday, Jan. 8., New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was speaking at a Romney for President rally in New Hampshire when he was interrupted by some female hecklers. It’s difficult to make out exactly what Christie’s critics were yelling, but it’s something to do with jobs going down. Ever the class act, Christie’s response: “You know, something may be going down tonight, but it ain’t going to be jobs, sweetheart.” […]

The video … was uploaded to the New Jersey GOP’s YouTube account. They seem to think his remark about “going down” is a zinger, something to be proud of, rather than recognizing it as flagrantly demeaning, even misogynistic. How would Christie have responded to male protesters saying the same thing? Probably not by changing the subject to what acts they perform in the bedroom.

I don’t really have an opinion on any of the COS that we’ve had. With the Congress that we have, Daley was the least of my problems. Daley on his way out said that both Dems and Repubs were blocking Pres.Obama from doing his job.

And he would be correct. I didn’t see many Dems on the stump sticking up for the American Jobs Act, nor did I see them making the media rounds attacking the Republicans for blocking the American Jobs Act. It took the payroll tax extension and the threat of middle class tax hikes to finally rally the Democrats together as one against the obstructionist Republicans and behind the President. The Democrats need to make a huge case this fall, and quit stabbing the President in the back.

MLK once said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Well I cannot think of any other person that I would want handling the “challenges and controversies” of our time than President Barack Obama.

With all the headline salacious gossip going on the last few days I remembered an article that I saved right after the 2008 election that told us an awful lot about the man we had just elected to be President. This is a true story about the company our President keeps and gives you some insight into his wonderful character.

But as usual, you could get whiplash from the violent swings back and forth from Tweety. He’s all over he map with his analysis. Earlier this week he was saying Willard was the biggest threat to President Obama. Right now, he just can’t get enough of Jon Huntsman calling out Willard for criticizing him for being Ambassador to China in the Obama administration.

The media loves Huntsman and loathes Romney. Granted, Romney is not likeable at all.

I have to say I knew that Romney was not a very good candidate but I had no idea at HOW absolutely mediocre, awful, inauthentic this guy is. His weaknesses have been exposed very soon in the primary season, and it is quite unfortunate in my opinion.

The thing is that none of these candidates are strong. They all have glaring flaws. If anyone other than Romney was the front-runner, his flaws would’ve been equally exposed. And it won’t get easier for whoever makes it out of the primaries.

Yeah, but Tweety implied that President Obama doesn’t know how to run the White House. He’s quoting Kanter’s book and asking who does the President assign tasks. Tweety needs to STFU. Doesn’t he know all the accomplishments of this administration? Didn’t he watch and report on the 2008 campaign. If President Obama doesn’t know how to run an organization, than no one does.

Sabreen60, who really gives a dam what Chris Matthews think of the President.We already know that he doesn’t like Barack Obama, he will find any fault with the President, he is just mad because this President have ignored the big bad Chris Matthews. The other week when progressive media folks were invited to the White House, where were Chris Matthews? No where to be seen. I believe Maddow, Schultz, Chris Hayes, were invited, I’m not sure who else, but I do know Matthews weren’t invited. So to hell with what Tweety or Matthews implied.

Linda, I was screaming at my tv, telling them that it was the “lazy” comment PBO made about our corporations reaching out and promoting their businesses. I could not believe that neither one could remember that.

Speaking of Angela Davis, who is a fierce advocate for thousands of men and women who are incarcerated, I came across this article yesterday:

The Side of the Black Panthers That’s Been Virtually Ignored: Their Fight for Healthcare Justice
By Angola 3 News| December 21, 2011

Alondra Nelson, a professor of sociology and gender studies at Columbia University, is the author of a new book titled Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination. By documenting the multifaceted health activism of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and critically assessing BPP’s strategy and tactics in a respectful and appreciative manner, Body and Soul presents an analysis that is rare and badly needed in US colleges and universities today.

In her book, Nelson writes that “the party’s focus on healthcare was both practical and ideological.” On a practical level, BPP provided free community healthcare services, including preventative education. Simultaneously, BPP railed against the medical-industrial complex, declaring that healthcare was “a right and not a privilege.”

Occasionally, I visit wonkette.com for wicked snark. (not for the faint at heart, Lots of princess and prince pottymouth there and not even close to being politically correct. Anyway, this one sums of the sense of humor of a lot of the ‘wonketeers’

———————————————————-

Yeah, right Mitt/Christie

A unionized public employee, a member of the Tea Party and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the tea partier and says,”look out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie.”

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai’s denunciation last week of abuses at the main American prison in Afghanistan — and his abrupt demand that Americans cede control of the site within a month — surprised many here. The prison, at Bagram Air Base, is one of the few in the country where Afghan and Western rights advocates say that conditions are relatively humane. American officials, caught off guard by the president’s order, scrambled to figure out the source of the allegations.

Now they have at least part of an answer: the Afghan commission that documented the abuses appears to have focused mainly on the side of the prison run by Afghan authorities, not the American-run part, according to interviews with American and Afghan officials. Mr. Karzai was, in essence, demanding that the Americans cede control of a prison to Afghan authorities to stop abuses being committed by Afghan authorities.

A growing industry of temp agencies supplies — and exploits — workers that move the products sold by big box stores like Walmart. In sprawling warehouse areas in places like California and Illinois, a new wave of so-called ‘logistics’ companies hire temp workers to run warehouse distribution facilities that get products from manufacturers — mostly overseas — to stores like Walmart. The logistics companies hire large workforces on a daily basis, paying them low wages, giving them no benefits and putting them in grueling working conditions that lead many of the best workers to suffer from debilitating injuries that end their careers. The jobs are frequently given to African Americans and immigrants from Latin America.

As with many other aspects of corporate greed seen in recent years, there is no reason for the companies to pay workers as poorly as they do: “Despite the fact that these workers are paid poverty-level wages, we estimate that about a trillion dollars comes through Chicago on an annual basis,” says Meinster. “That’s about $6 million per warehouse worker. Each worker is responsible for moving $6 million worth of goods through that supply chain. These are the workers who, collectively, if they don’t show up for a day, these companies would stand to lose a lot of money.

hiay TOD family.Got a call from a friend saying I needed to log on.Couldn’t say no :shock: as an Obot boy am I glad I did (if any lovely and helpful fellow Obot can send this to the President’s campaign so that they can use that in due time especially around election time that would be fantastic). Please and THANK YOU :D
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Bain Was Offshoring In Massachusetts, While Romney Was Governor

In another sign that Mitt Romney could be plagued by stories about Bain Capital, Internet researcher Andrew Kaczynski made waves with a 2003 article about Bain offshoring jobs from Massachusetts, during Romney’s time as Governor.

Though the piece does not mention Romney by name, as he had left Bain in 1999, there is perhaps still political potency in the fact that he continued to receive dividends from the company.

And as we have seen from the pile-on over his comment today, about being able to fire people who provide him a service — a reference to individuals picking their insurance companies, not to Bain — his opponents are giving him no quarter.

—————–

ICYMI: While Romney was Governor of Massachusetts Bain was actually shipping jobs from the state overseas. http://t.co/QWO1Fuau

Software code writers and programmers, the workhorses of the Massachusetts high-tech economy in the 1990s, today face a similar ultimatum to the one the commonwealth’s textile workers confronted in the beginning of the 20th century: Adapt quickly or be left behind.

Those software developers and code writers are seeing their jobs move to cheaper labor markets, in Canada, India, China and Brazil, just as textile workers in closing Massachusetts mills did as recently as 50 years ago. A host of technology outsourcing companies are springing up in the state to help nontechnology companies, such as Allmerica Financial Corp. of Worcester, Bain Capital LLC of Boston and Biogen Inc. of Cambridge, farm out their information technology work. A portion of that work is then shipped beyond the U.S. borders, creating jobs in other countries and, in turn, profits for the U.S.-based companies.

I have enjoyed reading all of your comments. However, I want to add mine at this time. As I’ve said before in a previous post, IMO, PBO is one of the greatest strategic and long-term planners that I have ever witnessed. I have complete faith in the decidions that he makes because I truly believe that he knows what he is doing and does not make decisions haphazardly. I believe from the very beginning that they knew that Rham was going to run for Mayor; that Daley would come in for a period of time to assist in shoring-up the business community to participate in some of the public-private job initiatives that they have implemented as well as help with the trade deals; and that Daley would help to run his Chicago-based campaign along with Axelrod, Gibbs, etc.

Let our motto be: “Keep our eyes on the prize” which is getting PBO and VPJB reelected. Lets not get distracted and become disillusioned by what we read on twitter, facebook, so-called MSM and the God-awful pundits. This is why I love this site because I was fed up with all the negativity and lies from the other sources.

Keep up the good work, but lets keep our motto on the “tip of our tongues” at all times and remember that if we stand united, we will get PBO and VPJB relected. I never waiver on this belief that they will win in 2012 as I never did in 2008 after Senator Obama won the Iowa caucus.

In summary, it is a type of catharsis to have the discussions that you do, and I believe that all Toders enjoy this. But let us have faith that it doesn’t matter who becomes the candidate for the Repugs, that the Obama team has their act together, and with our continued unwavering help and support, that POB and VPJB will win by a landslide!